Studies 1 & 2 into the causes of homosexual orientation

Conflicting quotes:

"Nobody in science now believes that sexual orientation is caused by events
in adolescence ... Homosexuality is an early, probably prenatal and irreversible
preference." Author and geneticist Matt Ridley
1

"Often, one's 'homosexuality' is thrust upon him by childhood molestation,
poor familial relations, or general peer harassment during the adolescent years,
including the continual calling of that child 'gay'." Parents Rights Coalition,
a conservative Christian agency in Massachusetts. 2

"The only choice involved with being gay is when a person decides
between living in the closet and hiding behind a facade, or deciding to accept,
acknowledge and BE who they are." Author Kevin Schattenkirk, who is himself gay.
3

"Homosexuals... tell of rejection from early childhood and lack of bonding
to same-sex parents, sexual violence and rape, or mental and emotional abuse as
critical elements in the formation of their gender-identity" From a joint advertisement by the American Family Association, Christian Coalition,
Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council, and many other
conservative Christian groups.
4

In this section of our web site, we have described a number of research studies which show that the propensity towards
homosexuality is traceable either to:

Genetic causes at conception, or

Environmental causes in the womb before birth.

We are always watching for new studies into this phenomenon. We have found
none that contradict the above conclusions.

We continue to be on the lookout for research studies which indicate that homosexual orientation is not caused by genes, but have been unable to find any. If you locate any please email us the URL or other citation. See the "contact us" at the bottom of the page.

A number of studies on identical twins have indicated that perhaps 10% of
people are born with the genetic predisposition to develop a homosexual
orientation in adulthood. However, this predisposition may or may not be
triggered, either before birth or during early childhood by a factor in the
embryo's, fetus' or child's environment which is currently unknown. Thus, having a homosexual orientation is
not completely determined by one's genes. However, current evidence is that it
is certainly outside of a person's conscious control. Child psychologists can study 5-year-old children and predict with about 85% accuracy which ones will become lesbian or gay adults.

Religious conservatives generally reject these studies. They deny that people
are set up by their genes to develop a homosexual orientation. They generally
believe that gays and lesbians choose their orientation. One psychologist,
Joseph Nicolosi, who is the president of the National Association of Research
and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) teaches that:

Homosexuality can be prevented by proper upbringing of children, and

Adults with a homosexual orientation can become heterosexual through
therapy. 5

This theme has been picked up by the fundamentalist Christian group,
Focus on the Family. Focus held "Love won out" conferences
across North America for many years. They taught that "homosexuality is
preventable and treatable." They have since abandoned these conferences. The same beliefs are also taught by many other
conservative Protestant information sources. 6

Perhaps the most active conservative Christian group advocating therapy to change the sexual orientation of lesbians and gays was Exodus International. After over three decades of trying to change clients' sexual orientation they finally had to admit defeat. They were successful in convincing some gays and lesbians to become sexually inactive. They convinced some bisexuals to seek relationships only with persons of the opposite sex. But that was all. They reversed their beliefs about changing clients' sexual orientation, abandoned reparative therapy, apologized for their three decades of harm to the LGBT community and went out of business in mid-2003.

Prejudice against gays and lesbians:

Many people believe that prejudice against gays and lesbians will melt away
if the public were to accept the belief that a person's sexual orientation is
mainly determined by genes. The rationale is that if a person is a gay or
lesbian because of their genetic makeup, then their orientation is not a choice;
it is something beyond of their control. This belief appears to be contradicted
by a 1999-APR web-site poll conducted by Time.com. It dealt with "Genetics
and Homosexuality," and asked the question: "Would your attitude towards
homosexuality change if it were proven to be genetically determined?"
Response as of 2000-MAR-6 was: 75% no, 21% yes and 4% not sure.

Also consider that:

The public has known for centuries that skin color is determined
genetically, yet North America still has many racists who automatically hate or
consider inferior anyone whose skin color falls within a certain range.

The public has known for centuries that the sex of a person is determined
genetically, yet North America still has many sexists who denigrate women and attempt to restrict them to pre-defined roles in church and family.

In contrast, the Roman Catholic church teaches that sexual
orientation is typically beyond a person's control It is neither changeable nor chosen by
the individual; it is discovered. However, the church still urges governments and its own members
to deny some human rights to gays and lesbians, like
the right to marry the person that they love and to whom they are committed.

Liberals from all religions generally accept the findings of scientific
studies which point to homosexual orientation as caused by genes.

The conservative wings of non-Christian religions still generally
believe and teach that homosexuality is a chosen, unnatural behavior.

Sponsored link:

Study #1, based on fingertip ridges:

J.A.Y. Hall and D. Kimura at the University of Western Ontario at
London ON Canada found a relationship between the number of fingertip ridges on
men and their sexual orientation.
7 They compared the number of ridges on the index
finger and thumb of the left hand with the number on the corresponding fingers
of the right hand. They found that 30% of the homosexuals tested had a surplus
of ridges on their left hand, whereas only 14% of the heterosexuals did. This is
a particularly interesting finding, because fingerprints are fully formed in
a fetus before the 17th week of pregnancy, and do not change thereafter, through
birth, infancy, childhood, youth and adulthood. This would seem to prove that
for at least some adult homosexuals, their sexual orientation was pre-determined
before birth, perhaps at conception, and certainly by the end of the 4th month of
pregnancy. 8,9

A California psychologist, Marc Breedlove, "conducted his research at
three street fairs in the San Francisco Bay area in the fall of 1999." Each
study participant had his or her hand photocopied on a portable copy machine to
record finger length. Participants also filled out a questionnaire on sexual
orientation and birth order. 720 volunteers participated. They found that
lesbians tended to have shorter index fingers (relative to their ring fingers)
than did heterosexual women. They also found that gay males tended to have
shorter index fingers (relative to their ring fingers) than heterosexual males.
The relative size of a person's fingers is determined well before birth. These
findings imply that sexual orientation is at least partly decided before birth
-- perhaps at conception when a person's unique DNA is established.
10

Kevin Schattenkirk, "Being gay - A choice? Debunking some popular views
on homosexuality," The Daily University of Washington, 1999, at:
http://archives.thedaily.washington.edu/ (No longer available online)